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Classical music-lovers are not famous for their tolerance of distractions during a concert.

Anyone who has been tutted at for turning the pages of their programme too loudly may be permitted a wry smile at news of the latest innovation: an app which texts notes straight to ticket-holders’ phones.

The mobile phone app promises to deliver programme notes live as the orchestra plays, allowing curious audience members to read along by the light of the screen in their hand.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is the first in Britain to embrace a new app, trialled in Cadogan Hall earlier this year and set to be used at a new “Myths and Fairytales” season in a specially-designated seating area.

The app, Octava, is intended to “assist the participant through a musical journey”, with Chris Evans, director of press and marketing at RPO, saying its tone is “specifically aimed towards new and potentially younger audiences”.

Programmes will be sent directly to phones and tablets

The app has already raised eyebrows in the classical community, after BBC Music magazine featured it in a review.

“I was surprised to see you endorse Octava, an app which sends texts to your phone during a performance with information about the music,” one concerned reader wrote in this month’s edition. “

What happened to the rather quaint idea of reading programme notes before a performance, then simply enjoying the music and not disturbing those around you?”

The editor replied: “We have to agree - programme notes are indeed far superior, and don’t shine brightly in the gloom.

“But we live in an ever-changing world, and music needs to try and attract new audiences.”

Other music venues have made use of virtual reality to bring orchestras to life

The innovation is intended to help woo new fans into classical music concerts: a major concern for the British arts scene in the 21st century.

EnCue by Octava, which was developed in the US, is described as a “concert-enhancing app that delivers real-time programme notes to audiences’ mobile or tablet devices”.

It is designed to send information about a performance in time with what is happening on stage, eradicating the need to flick through a paper programme to swot up on the history or details of a piece of music.

Its publicity material states that it uses “Darkscreen Technology”, to avoid distracting those sitting around its user.

The RPO said it had received positive feedback from trials and concerts during the spring, and will now roll it out in a designated seating area.

It will next be applied to the Myths and Fairytales series, exploring the magical landscapes portrayed in a variety of spell-binding works by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov and others from November 7 onwards.

It follows other technologies aimed at enticing new audiences to classical music, including numerous virtual reality experiences.

The Philharmonia orchestra last year launched a virtual reality programme allowing viewers wearing headsets to “step into the heart of the symphony orchestra” to watch a performance of Sibelius' Fifth Symphony.

It already has its own app, with multi-camera views of performances and interactive commentary, and has undertaken a digital takeover of the Royal Festival Hall which allowed visitors to “walk through” an orchestra and pretend to conduct as they played Holst’s The Planets.